[SH Transit] Holiday Over, Fares Down: Time for a Shanghai Getaway

Editor's Note:

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Shanghai residents with flexible travel dates have a chance to spend less on autumn flights after the National Day holiday, with low fares available beyond budget airlines.

Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports handled 2.94 million passenger trips during the October 1-7 holiday, an average of 420,000 a day.

Spring Airlines is promoting domestic departures from 200 yuan (US$29.9) before taxes for late October and early November.

Checks of airline websites on October 13 also found base fares of 350 yuan on select China Eastern and Juneyao flights departing on October 28.

The broader market has softened since the holiday. Booking platform Qunar reported that average ticket prices paid for travel between October 9 and 31 were more than 30 percent below those during the National Day holiday.

Shanghai departures feature in that decline. Meituan data put the average fare, including taxes, from Shanghai to Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, at about 423 yuan for October 15-31, roughly 57 percent below the pre-holiday comparison period.

Beyond the advertised fare

Spring's domestic offers include Shanghai departures to Xiamen in southeast China's Fujian Province, Shenyang and Dalian in northeastern Liaoning Province, and Lanzhou in northwestern Gansu Province, from 200 yuan.

It also lists fares to Xishuangbanna, southwestern Yunnan Province, from 410 yuan and Lijiang from 460 yuan. Those prices exclude taxes.

On China Eastern's website, the October 28 MU5691 flight from Shanghai Pudong to Shenyang was listed at 350 yuan before taxes. The tax-inclusive price is 490 yuan.

The flight departs at 7:35am. Shanghai Airlines' FM9081 service on the same route, departing at 9am that day, was listed at 380 yuan before taxes, or 520 yuan including them.

In this comparison, another 30 yuan buys a later departure, which may be more convenient depending on where the passenger lives and how they plan to reach the airport.

Juneyao's website also showed a 350-yuan base fare for its October 28 HO1117 flight from Shanghai Hongqiao to Xiamen, departing at 6:55am.

The airline's fare details listed a 20-kilogram checked-baggage allowance and one cabin bag weighing up to 5 kilograms for that ticket. Refunds and changes carry charges.

A traveler taking a checked suitcase needs to compare the cost of the ticket and any required baggage purchase together. The conditions of the specific fare matter more than whether the airline is described as low-cost or full-service.

Short-haul international offers

Spring is also advertising one-way fares from Shanghai to Jeju, South Korea, from 280 yuan, Bangkok, Thailand, from 562 yuan and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from 570 yuan, including taxes, for its late-October and early-November travel promotion.

The budget carrier's fare listing also includes Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, at 550 yuan, and Chiang Mai in northern Thailand at 762 yuan. Both fares include taxes.

Seoul, South Korea's capital, is another option, with a listed fare of 719 yuan, including taxes.

Passengers should check the exact travel dates, baggage allowance and return fare before planning a trip around a one-way offer.

Count the whole trip

The departure airport and flight time can also change the costs. Juneyao's 6:55am Hongqiao departure, for example, requires an early trip to the airport.

Passengers should check whether their first public-transport connection leaves enough time for check-in and security, or whether another transfer needs to be budgeted for.

Compare the same travel dates and include taxes, required baggage and any services you intend to purchase.

Then check the refund and change rules for that fare, rather than assuming one policy applies to every ticket sold by the airline.